O'Reilly: Al Gore's sale to al-Jazeera 'sleazy and disgraceful'

1/4/13 8:39 AM EST

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly criticized former vice president Al Gore last night, calling him a "hypocrite" for selling Current TV to the "anti-American" al-Jazeera and for trying to do so before the Jan. 1 capital gains tax hike.

"Now when you think about it, this is really stunning," O'Reilly said on his program. "A former vice president selling his far-left cable network to anti-Americans, then trying to jam the deal to avoid higher taxes."

Gore decided in December to sell Current Media to al-Jazeera for $500 million, an estimated $100 million of which went directly to him, according to the New York Times. He pushed to close the deal before Jan. 1 in order to avoid paying more in taxes, according to the Times, though the deal was not closed until Jan. 2.

As evidence of the Qatari network's "anti-American" bias, O'Reilly cited a documentary the network aired about Osama bin Laden, which included interviews with individuals who descibed him in respectful terms.

"I'm not for censoring al-Jazeera. That's what they do in the Islamic world, and we're better than that" O'Reilly said. "But this is just sleazy, Al. This is disgraceful."

O'Reilly invited Gore on the program to "set the record straight," lest the Times was wrong, though he did not anticipate that Gore would take him up on the offer.